It was a good day. I can tell my strength is increasing as I just graduated to the bottom of the dumbbell rack. When lifting I go as hard as I can with few breaks. High reps with progressive weight increases. My goal is to keep my heart rate up and exhaust my muscles. Once my 3 months diet is finished I plan to continue weight training during my maintenance stage. However, I will seek advice and put together a more structured plan.

I train at a community Gym. It is cheap, 160 yen a visit. ($1.50US). It gets really busy though. As I am a foreigner with poor language skills it is hard to "work in" with the big boys. Though I appreciate that in Gyms, the world over - locals tend to (justifiably) monopolize the equipment. I am slowly becoming a regular and my strength is increasing. Soon I will get more assertive. They are all nice guys, no worries.

As a reminder to myself I have to stop stereotyping all Japanese as non English speakers. I was talking to this guy in the Gym with my poor immigrant language skills and he replied in English. It turned out he is Firefighter on one of US Air force Bases. Nice guy. He came over to comment that I was doing really well with my diet. What a nice guy.